


How to befriend Peter Parker when he rightfully hates you

by mauvera



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Flash tries to make up for being a dick but he kinda sucks at it, Gen, Humor, Identity Reveal, Redemption, they're all just kids trying their best okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-09-05 16:33:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16814362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mauvera/pseuds/mauvera
Summary: So, Peter Parker is Spider-Man.Fuck.When Flash finds out a particular secret by accident he comes to the realisation that the dorky nerd he bullies has actually been able to snap him in half for years without even breaking a sweat. Guess it's time to try and befriend him and just hope for the best then. Thank god Peter turns out to actually be... not awful?





	1. Flash Finds Out

Holy fuck. 

Oh god. 

Oh dear god. 

Flash’s eyes widened in shock and horror because there was no damn way he just saw Spider-Man land on the roof of his school and take his mask off. There was definitely no damn way that the mask was pulled away to reveal the very identifiable and very familiar scruff of hair that belonged to one Peter Parker. 

But hell. He guessed there was a damn way that was what had happened because sure enough the figure on the roof turned, ducking behind an air duct which allowed Flash to get a small glimpse of his classmate’s face with a very clear imprint of a spider printed across his chest. 

-

A clock was ticking. It’s rhythmic beat only half as fast as the pounding of Flash’s heart which felt entrapped in the cage of his ribs. His whole body was alight. He felt fire burning through his blood while he sat there, stuck in the same school chair that he was in every other day. Just as he was in the same classroom he always was in. The only thing that has changed was the life changing, earth shattering, totally fucking insane revelation that the kid sitting two rows behind him, chewing absentmindedly on the end of his pencil was actually Spider-Man. 

For possibly the dozenth time in the last half hour Flash shifted in his seat just to catch another glimpse of Penis- _ Peter _ Parker sitting obliviously behind him. Damn it. 

Flash had missed almost the entire lesson but in his defense he was a little bit distracted going back through literally every memory he had of his interactions with Peter over the last few years to figure out how the hell it all added up. 

Sure, there were a couple clues that he could see in retrospect. Like obviously Parker dropping out of all his clubs and the sudden ease he had in gym. But none of that really screamed “hey everyone I’m actually a superhero you all love and adore but to keep my identity secret I still act like a total dork and let you all bully me!”

_ Oh my god,  _ Flash thought,  _ I’ve been bullying fucking Spider-Man. _

Horrified by that revelation Flash spent the rest of the lesson staring blankly at the board in front of him absorbing absolutely nothing at all while he contemplated every possible way to launch himself out of the window in shame. Look, he hadn’t ever exactly enjoyed being a dick to Parker, actually no. He definitely had. But still, he wasn’t trying to do it because Parker was a particularly bad guy, Flash was big enough to understand he was projecting one or two of his insecurities onto Parker, but hell if that was going to stop him. So yeah. Flash bullied Spider-Man. The same Spider-Man who totally had the power to snap Flash’s neck in half of he chose to.  _ Holy shit.  _ Parker totally knew he was the one with all the power every time Flash had shoved him into a locker or made fun of his fake Stark Internship. Huh, well at least that one probably actually was a lie. A cover up for the whole Spider-Man thing. Flash smiled with vindication at being right. But shit if he wasn’t still stressing. What if Parker decided enough was enough one day and just back handed Flash across the hall? What if he got mind controlled because that’s the kind of crazy shit he encounters and he was told to go murder people? A grand total of zero people would be surprised if Flash was at the top of that list. So shit. He guessed he’d just have to start being friends with Parker because the alternative involved getting beaten to bloody pulp. 

“Mr Thompson?” 

Oh no. Yeah that was definitely the Tough Teacher Voice which means Mr Harrington had been trying to get Flash’s attention for a while and he had totally zoned out. 

“Detention,” Aw man. “And you will be joined by Mr Parker it seems.”  _ Shit.  _ Flash turned in his seat to witness Peter bashfully pulling the various pencils and rubbers he had shoved into his hair in what one could only guess was boredom. That guy was Spider-Man?  _ That guy?! _

-

  
  


“Alright kids just finish your work on the chapter and you’re free to go,” Mr Harrington said with a short wave and a quick exit leaving Flash and Peter and the goddamn ticking clock alone in the room. 

Fuuuuuckkkkk. 

Flash had gotten there first, not quite sure what his game plan was but sure he needed to seem friendly and approachable. So he sat right in the middle of the classroom, so no matter where Peter sat Flash would be nearby. Yes. Strategic friendship. 

Peter had entered the room some time later, taken one glance at where Flash was and situated himself in the far back corner, as far out of Flash’s view as he could manage. Well, maybe it would be a little bit more difficult than anticipated. Flash would just have to start off a conversation with something non threatening. Something totally neutral. 

“Hey Parker,” Peter’s head whipped up at the sound of Flash’s voice. Confusion settled immediately upon his face. Clearly he was wary of the fact Flash had sounded calm and had actually waited for an acknowledgement by Peter instead of simply storming up and demanding whatever he wanted now. Y’know, maybe he could see why Parker might not be too interested in getting to know him. Maybe.

“You got a pen?” 

“Uh… yeah? I’m writing with one?” Peter waved his hand that funnily enough did have a pen. Wow. What a surprise. 

“I meant to borrow one,” Flash was struggling to keep his innate need to be as condescending as possible to Peter at bay. A quick glance at the muscles he could see being swaddled in dorky sweaters was enough of a reminder to keep his temper for once in his life. 

“Oh,” Peter said warily, as if waiting for a trick or trap “sure.”

He passed a pen over to Flash who accepted it with a nod before bending down to just do his work and get out of there as soon as possible. That one interaction alone was enough to set his veins on fire with stress and adrenaline. God, knowing he could just be punted across the room in an instant really put into perspective how awful he normally was to Peter. With that thought in mind he finished his work in record time and had already bolted out of the school yard before realising he still had Peter’s pen clutched in his fingers. 

Well, at least he had an excuse to talk to him again. 

Oh joy. 

-

“Hey Parker!” Oh shit that was way too aggressive. Flash continued walking towards the boy who had just hunched over in… fear? Seriously? He kept up the now blatantly obviously charade while Flash pretended his own stomach wasn’t currently doing somersaults out of pure stress. He ignored the glaring looks of Michelle and Ned, Peter’s lackeys were always at hand it seemed. Did they know about his secret? Well, Flash considered, it would make sense if Michelle had, she was the one to point out that Peter had dropped all his clubs after all. Yeah. She definitely knew way too much for a normal person. It wouldn’t surprise him if she had just guessed it on her own. Flash then peered at Ned, the guy was a mess but he never failed to provide some kind of reason or excuse for Peter’s many absences. Okay cool so everyone knew about the Spider Thing but they didn’t know he knew so he had to just play it cool. Yeah, cool. He could do that. 

“I got your pen,” Flash stated. Oh man that was too assertive wasn’t it? Damn it. Why was being nice to Parker so fucking hard? But he had to do it. For the sake of his own precious life that could apparently be taken at any moment by the scrawny kid in front of him. “Thanks for letting me borrow it.”

Peter looked down at the proffered pen with a healthy amount of scepticism. He was probably wondering if Flash had poisoned it or rigged it to explode. Sheesh Parker, just calm down a second. At last he gingerly reached up to grab it from Flash, holding it between thumb and index finger like it may combust into flames at any moment. Talk about being under appreciated. 

“Uh… thanks?”

“Welcome.”

Flash turned on his heel and stalked away from the trio immediately but wasn’t quick enough to miss the not-so-quiet comments of “What the hell?” “Was he just nice to you?” “I dunno man.”

-

Was he really about to do this? Flash reminded himself of the video he’d just seen on YouTube where Peter, well, Spider-Man could be seen picking up an entire car with people inside it because he was saving them from the earthquake that was tearing the whole street in half. Yes, he supposed he was going to do this.

“Parker!” He called out as he approached the boy sitting alone in the cafeteria. Leeds and Jones must have been sick or something because it was unusual to ever see him without at least one of them plastered to his side. He reached the table, hovering kind of awkwardly opposite where Peter sat. “You don’t have lunch.” He stated. 

Peter just nodded, equally as aware that he didn’t have lunch and was wondering why Flash had felt the need to walk all the way over there to let him know. 

“Why?” Flash prompted when he didn’t get another response. Even if it made sense that Peter drew back a bit, his face pinched in a quiet defiance at Flash’s questioning, it still kind of hurt his feelings. Then again, he reasoned, Peter had pretty much every conceivable reason to distrust Flash and be defensive. After all Flash was still pretty new to the whole ‘being nice’ thing so his skills weren’t quite up to par. 

“Because I don’t have money.” Peter finally said, presumably figuring Flash wouldn’t leave until he got the answers he was looking for. And then, oh, then Peter squared his back, sat up straight and seemed to prepare himself for whatever insult Flash might throw at him. He was ashamed to admit a couple did cross his mind, ones about Peter’s aunt being unable to care for him were an especially low blow that he was horrified had even entered his thoughts. 

“Well, you should have this then.” He said instead, dropping some notes on the table and stepping back. He watched Peter’s face morph from defensive to blatant confusion. Before he could say something and make it weird Flash just turned and walked back to his own table without another word. 

-

The next time Flash attempted to be friendly was during their next gym lesson. He’d just passed Peter in another lap and where usually that would’ve filled him with a spiteful pride instead he was just flabbergasted by the constant effort Peter must have had to put in to maintain his weak and pathetic persona. He was matching his pace with Ned but Flash could see every so often that his feet would instinctively drum a little bit faster as if he were itching to pull out ahead and really stretch his legs but then he would notice his lead and draw back into the belt of mediocrity. Was this what he did all of the time? Every day? Was it as exhausting as it looked? 

As he sped past the pair yet again, his breath heaving while he noticed Parker hadn’t even broken a sweat, he contemplated on whether any of his victories over Parker had ever actually meant anything. Everyone knew, and even Flash would begrudgingly admit, that Peter was one of the best on their Academic Decathlon team. He’d come to peace with that fact for the very reason he was superior than Parker at everything else. Flash was more popular. But Parker got to hang out with the  _ Avengers _ . Flash was fitter. But Peter went out daily to fight crime and was ludicrously strong and acrobatic. Flash was just… better. But Peter was a superhero. 

He’d never win. And he guessed he just had to accept that, make peace and move on. So he drew in a breath, counted to ten to help calm his racing nerves and slowed his pace on his next lap, falling into step with the two dorks- Uh the two guys. 

“Hey Parker,” he pretended not to notice the surprised glance between the other two, just focused on keeping his eyes straight and his feet moving in time with theirs. 

“Hey Flash,” Peter finally said warily. 

“You’re barely out of breath, guess you must be pretty strong.”

“You’ve lapped us four times.”

“Well yeah but you’ve clearly got endurance or whatever. I was just complimenting you.”

“Uh, thanks?”

“Yeah well, good on ya. I just needed to slow down for a second, take a break y’know,” was all Flash said quickly then sprinted further ahead to make sure he was definitely out of their eyesight's before letting the cringing grimace he’d been holding in cross his face. God, that had been so fucking awkward. 

Well, he guessed he’d just have to try again. And probably again. And maybe another time after that. 

This was going to be a long process huh?


	2. Chapter 2

Peter was pretty damn confused. School has been… good?

Actually good?

He’d literally never encountered anything half as suspicious as the fact that school was going alright for him. Peter sat at his desk, wracking his brain for when this sudden and inexplicable shift had occurred. It had been at least three weeks. Three whole weeks seemed like a long ass time all of a sudden, especially considering Spider-Man certainly hadn’t been getting a break recently. He’d stopped three robberies and two muggings plus he’d helped out some lost tourists like, ten times. But at school… well nothing had happened.

Ah that’s what was wrong. He hadn’t been bullied. In three weeks not one person had tried to shove him into a locker and more importantly than that; Flash hadn’t actually said one mean thing to him.

Peter pursed his lips in concentration, frowning at the back of Flash’s head where he sat before him, scribbling down notes that were probably important and relevant to whatever the teacher was saying but Peter was a bit preoccupied trying to become a mind reader through sheer force of will. It wasn’t working. He sighed, slumping down into the desk and disinterestedly picked up his own pen so he could play the part of a student even if he hadn’t heard one word about protons or whatever they were talking about.

His mind swirled with thoughts and theories. Perhaps Flash had finally grown a conscience and was feeling bad about the years of torment he’d put Peter through. Maybe he was being mind controlled. Potentially he wasn’t even the real Flash, he could have been kidnapped one night and replaced with just a super realistic looking robot that was too good at being a generic person that it was bad at being Flash because it’s programming hadn’t accounted for what an asshole he was… or something.

The bell had rung and students were packing up their belongings by the time Peter resolved to just give up on figuring Flash out. No need to look a gift horse in the mouth and all that. But then the horse looked at him. Wait, no that’s mean. _Flash_ turned to Peter right before he left the classroom, Peter instinctively halting his steps to give Flash a wide berth of room so he couldn’t just so happen to elbow him in the stomach. But then something weird happened. Flash smiled at Peter.

_Flash_ smiled at _Peter._

Holy shit he was a robot.

-

“Guys guys guys guys guys guys guys,” Peter chanted urgently as he slammed his lunch tray down on the table. Ned whipped his head up at Peter’s panicked entrance while MJ resolutely decided to just sit there and finish her page of the book she was reading before lethargically taking in Peter’s frantic appearance. His eyes darted about the cafeteria wildly, not trusting anyone else to be minding their own business. He had news and nobody except his friends could know until they had a plan of action.

“Flash is being weird.”

“Uh yeah?” Ned said, confused at why the hell his friend thought it was necessary to point that out. “He always has been. Dude, did you hit your head or something?”

MJ grunted in confirmation not that anyone was asking her, thank you very much.

“No he’s being like…. nice to me.”

Neither of Peter’s friends responded correctly to his totally life changing revelation instead they both stared blankly at him.

“Yeah dweeb,” MJ sighed, dejectedly putting her bookmark in place and closing the covers of _Pride and Prejudice_ as apparently this conversation would be taking a while. Rude. “He’s been trying to be nice to you for about three weeks now. You’re just oblivious.”

Peter stared at her wondering yet again just how it was she always seemed to know everything that happened in his life. He was yet again struck with the worry that she had figured out his Spider-Man secret. Ultimately it wouldn’t be the worst thing if she did but he’d kinda prefer to tell her himself so he could flaunt it in her face for eternity that he had gotten away with having a whole separate secret identity she had totally missed. Plus he thought of how damn satisfying it would be to finally catch her off guard for once.

“Okay… why?” Peter decided to ask, settling back onto the far safer topic of Flash being so fucking weird.

“Dunno,” she said.

Gee thanks. How helpful.

“Peter why does it matter? He’s being nice. You’re not being attacked. Just let it happen man,” Ned said through a mouthful of food. Okay so Peter’s friends clearly weren’t adequately shocked and surprised by what was happening. Peter would just have to figure it out himself. What useless friends he had.

Regardless though, he settled down into his seat letting them think he had let the topic go. Conversation bubbled up as MJ and Ned debated whether or not fries and tater tots together counted as a salad because “They’re both potatoes which is a vegetable. You gotta admit I’m right.” “You’re an idiot Leeds, that’s what you are.” Meanwhile Peter sat there, plans stewing in his head. Flash being nice was suspicious. No doubt about it. So, clearly Peter would just have to out-nice him. That’ll show them all. Flash won’t be prepared for how fucking nice Peter was going to be, his weak facade will crack under the pressure and he’ll be forced to reveal his true motive. Yes! Peter was totally going to solve this and then Ned and MJ will see he was right the whole time and he’s definitely not paranoid in any way shape or form. Good.

-

“Hey Flash!” Peter called out, running past the other boy as they lapped the gym floor. Ned was away sick that morning which meant Peter had no one to stick next to to make sure he was running adequately slow. So instead he’d decided to embrace this whole “being nice to Flash” thing and seeing as he had already noticed that Peter was fitter than he normally let on it wouldn’t hurt surely to just run one lap faster than normal then resume his I’m-totally-not-fit-or-have-crazy-spider-strength thing later.

Flash started at Peter’s sudden voice but he quickly recovered enough to smile confusedly in Peter’s direction. Damn. That wasn’t good enough. Peter needed to catch him totally by surprise then. And probably do something a bit more shocking than just greeting him. Urgh.

-

“Wow Flash that’s a super cool drawing,” Peter noted absently as he walked down to his desk. Flash jumped at both Peter’s sudden appearance and the compliment before he looked down to his own page and saw the hastily drawn sketch of Spider-Man and scrambled to cover it up. Peter smirked as he passed him by, not missing the blush that took over Flash’s face that he’d been caught drawing the superhero. Flash liked to pretend he was above everyone else because he didn’t go crazy over the Avengers like them but everyone knew Spider-Man was his favourite. Peter wanted to laugh, imagining what Flash’s face would look like if he ever found out that _Peter_ was Spider-Man.

-

“Alright everyone you’ll need to pick your partners for the upcoming project. You have three minutes to sort it out before I begin assigning pairs.”

Peter immediately turned to his left to find the Ned wasn’t there. He was still out sick damnit. Guess that left MJ. But as Peter made eye contact with her Betty Brant just _had_ to come up and ask her to partner together and MJ, like a traitor, said yes. Shit.

Peter glanced around the room to see that obviously everyone already had the people they were used to partnering with. It was just him whose best friend was betraying him with his absence. God who else was left though.

Oh.

Oh no.

…

Well actually…

“Hey Flash,” Peter took a stupid amount of pride from the way Flash nearly jumped out of his seat in surprise as Peter slammed his hand on the desk. “Wanna partner up?”

“You want to partner with me?” Flash said sceptically. Clearly not trusting Peter’s sudden turn in character. Yeah join the club buddy.

“Yep, we’re the only two left after all,” Peter gestures around the room not actually checking if everyone had partners but maybe if he said it confidently enough Flash would just accept it. As much as he didn’t want to do this it would be a convenient opportunity for him to get some intel in why Flash was being so strange.

He was almost surprised by how readily and enthusiastically Flash agreed to the arrangement. Huh. He didn’t even sound sarcastic when he said “That’d be great thanks Parker.”

See? Weird.

-

What had he just done?

Peter groaned, rolling in bed to slam his face into his pillow as though that would solve his problems if he could just know himself out the nicest way possible. His phone buzzed beside him, no doubt it was another text message. From Flash. Urgh.

Peter grimaced into the material that smothered his face. Maybe if he just lay there forever he wouldn’t have to deal with anybody ever again and the world could just move on without him. May could come visit his prone, decaying form. Ned and MJ would be sad for a while, even if MJ insisted she wasn’t, but they would be able to carry on without him in their lives. New York may wonder what happened to Spider-Man but they’d probably just accept he somehow got defeated by a worthy enemy and that would be that.

The buzzing returned.

“Blrgh,” said Peter as he slammed his hand around vaguely on the mattress until he could locate the stupid device. He propped himself up on his elbows and glared down at the innocent screen.

**Flash (6:43 pm):** Greetings Mr Parker. Would you like to discuss when we should collaborate on our project?

**Flash(6:48 pm):** okay nah I dont write like that it felt weird lol

**Flash (6:49 pm):** anyway yeah hit me up

**Flash (6:54 pm):** you can come over to mine if you want or whatever

Reading the newest batch of messages made Peter yet again rethink his decision to give Flash his phone number in class that day. He’d really thought that when he suggested the exchange numbers Flash would’ve dropped the whole ‘nice guy’ act then and there. He was anticipating something along the lines of “What the fuck Parker? Why the hell would I give you my number? I already have to deal with you at school, like hell do I need you plaguing my phone too. You know I actually care about my stuff, unlike you. Dumbass. And I seriously don’t need you in my life!” But what he got instead was something that seriously looked like a genuine smile and a “Yeah that’s a great plan thanks Parker!” So… yeah.

Almost immediately he’d received three separate messages.

**Flash (2:13 pm):** hello this is Flash

**Flash (2:14 pm):** I hope this is Peter

**Flash (2:16 pm):** unless I’ve got the wrong number

**Peter (2:47 pm):** yea its me

In addition to that, Flash had sent him four different chemistry puns because “you like these types of things right?” Which was… nice. Honestly Peter was just surprised that Flash had paid enough attention to him to notice Peter’s excessive collection of t-shirts that sported stupid jokes. Then again maybe he’d only noticed them in the many times he’d made fun of Peter for them. Seriously, why was he trying to be nice all of a sudden? It made no sense, like, at _all._

There had to be a reason behind that sudden shift in Flash’s entire personality and damn it, Peter was going to find out what it was.


	3. Chapter 3

Who decided being nice was a good idea? What idiot thought “Hey y’know what’d be fun? Oh, just putting yourself through fucking hell trying to please other people by paying attention to their interests and what they say so you sound like an idiot but you have to do it because they have freaky mutant powers and could crush you like a bug!”

Maybe being nice wasn’t quite like that  _ all  _ the time. 

Flash grumbled as he scampered around his room, cleaning up the energy drinks and takeout containers he had sprawled across the floor. He thought about what a fucking idiot he was, inviting Peter Parker over to his  _ house _ just the two of them  _ alone _ for an  _ extended period of time _ . It took some real conscious effort to restrain himself from just slamming his head into the wall. 

He’d become so stressed by the fact Peter didn’t respond quickly to his texts inviting him over that he’d just laid in bed panicking. Also god damnit, Peter was the worst fucking texter on Earth. He just left Flash on read for ages and would only respond with simple affirmatives or one word responses. It was killing him. 

But then Peter had sent him a new message on Saturday morning. 

**Peter (10:23 am):** Hey Flash I’m free now if you wanted to do the work

To which Flash had replied, like an idiot. 

**Flash (10:24 am):** YEAH! Sounds great c’mon over

And then Peter had said he’d be there in fifteen minutes which of course resulted in Flash running around like a madman trying to make everything vaguely presentable. Sure the rest of the house was nice looking but that room was the one space Flash had control of and it was disgusting, Peter wouldn’t want to be his friend if he knew how actually gross Flash was. 

Wait. 

Flash paused, a pile of dirty laundry clutched in his hand. Friend. He had just thought about wanting Peter Parker to be his friend. Did he want it? He considered the thought while he continued cleaning up, it wouldn’t be  _ terrible _ if he actually became friends with Peter right? Because on the one hand being friends would be kind of awesome because that technically meant he was friends with Spider-Man. And on the other… it would still be kid of awesome because he  _ would  _ be friends with Peter Parker. As much as it used to pain him to admit, most people really liked him. He was nice. And funny. And super smart. And just… cool. 

Shit. Did Flash genuinely like Peter Parker? 

Unfortunately he did not have time to delve into that particulate can of worms because his doorbell was ringing which meant it was time for much, much stress. Oh and it also meant Peter was here. 

He did not race to the door. Just because he was walking faster than normal or even faster than strictly necessary did  _ not _ mean he was racing. He wasn’t even excited to see Peter. He didn’t want to hang out with him. And he wasn’t even a little bit excited when he saw the way Peter’s hair was sticking up at weird angles the way it always was when he raced in late to class with some weak ass excuse that Flash now knew he’d been Spider-Manning. So Peter had actually just gotten into costume to come to Flash’s house quicker than normal. Either that meant he was excited to see him too or he wanted their interactions over as soon as possible. 

“Hey Peter,” Flash said with just enough forced casualness to make Peter suspicious. 

“Hi,” he replied, his eyes scanning Flash’s face for any sign of deception. Flash would almost be offended but then he recalled the type of life this guy lived. And  _ then _ he recalled the years of ceaseless bullying that might possibly have affected the way Peter felt about him. Fair enough. 

“You want to get started on the project?” Peter nodded and allowed Flash to lead the way back through the house to his newly cleaned room. 

“Nice place you’ve got here.”

“Thanks.”

Wow. This conversation sucked. Flash wracked his brains for literally anything they could talk about that didn’t have to do with the damn interior decorating. What did he normally talk to his friends about?

“Hey you seen that new Spider-Man video?” Ah. that might not have been the best opener considering present company. Shit. He really didn’t think that through. 

To Flash’s great surprise though Peter seemed to perk up with interest.

“What video?” Okay so either this guy genuinely didn’t know just how much cool shit he did or he was digging for compliments. Well… no matter what it seemed like a win as long as Flash could prove he paid attention to Peter and had nice things to say. If he played this well maybe he could even convince Peter that he was better now by appealing to his better half.

“Oh you haven’t heard? Someone filmed him a few days ago climbing into a burning building. There’d been a family up there. Even the firefighters had to back off because the floor was so unstable it was likely they’d be more harm than good. But Spidey just went across the roof, which was seriously cool. And he must have some kind of like, web grenade or net or whatever because he came out two minutes later with all eight of them safely inside the webs and he just... Carried them. All the way down a ten storey building. With one hand. I mean damn, the amount of fucking strength that guy must have is  _ insane _ . I would not want to be on his bad side,” Flash couldn’t help the way his eyes flickered over to Peter’s at the last moment, curious to see his reaction. He may not have won him over with his little rant there but at the very least he could see a small smile gracing his lips. Clearly he was pretty damn pleased with himself. And honestly Flash couldn’t even judge him for that. He doubted if he had just saved a whole family in the most badass way possible that he could keep it quiet.

“Y’know,” Flash continued, a new thought entering his head, “It’s kind of insane how much of a good person he is.”

“Why’s that?” Peter asked, genuinely curious at why Flash’s voice had suddenly taken on a tone of sheer awe.

“Because we don’t know who he is.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Think about it man, this guys saves people. Probably just in his spare time, everyone says he sounds young so he probably still has school but that’s not even an excuse for him. He knows he can help so he just does it. No questions asked. And then he doesn’t even show his face? That’s insane. Seriously, I’m way too selfish for that shit. If I saved people I’d want the credit, I mean hell, I’d probably do what Stark did and just make a whole ass skyscraper with my name on it. But Spider-Man just does what he does and gets out of there. Appearing when he needs to but not demanding thanks or rewards. How fucking selfless can one guy even be?” Flash had watched the way Peter’s smile had developed as he’d talked, just enough to show his pride at his work. “If I ever got to see Spider-Man again all I’d really want to do is just thank him. That guy inspires so many people. Hell, he makes me want to do better so that half the time I’m about to make any kind of choice these days I just have to think about how he’d react and that leads me to making the right one.”

Flash neglected to mention that when he was thinking about Spider-Man’s reactions to his choices it was far less about making him proud instead of making sure he didn’t punch him. But Peter didn’t know that. 

“Flash,” Peter grinned widely at him. Like he was proud of him. Like they were almost friends. “That is the single nicest thing I’ve ever heard you say about anyone.”

Flash self consciously began rubbing his hand at the back of his neck, not even aware that it was a habit he’d picked up from Peter over the past weeks of watching the guy, “Yeah I’m trying to do that more.” Peter looked at him confusedly. “Be nice that is. I’m working on it.”

God that was so fucking embarrassing to admit. What kind of loser has to work on being nice? Apparently him for some reason. Why couldn’t he just be like Peter. That guy had it so easy, being nice was probably like breathing for him. Even after everything Flash had done to him over the years he was still nice to him, despite the literally countless opportunities he’d had to just beat him up. He could probably only use his pinky finger and Flash would still end up in hospital. It was unfair. Seriously it’s not like it was his fault being nice was so hard…

“I get that.” Peter said. Flash halted in his steps but the other boy kept on walking until he suddenly noticed Flash was no longer by his side.

“No you don’t.” Flash said. There was no malice in his voice for once, just sincere confusion because Peter must have missed everything he had just said.

Peter for one, looked entirely indignant. “What the hell? Yes I do.”

“No,” Flash spoke slowly, as though Peter were a child that had just changed the subject and couldn’t understand why they were still talking about the old topic. “You don’t know what it’s like to work on being nice. You just are. Like all the time. It pissed me off for years so I’m pretty sure I know what I’m talking about. You just show up and the second someone needs help you’re there. Being all nice and shit. I was a dick to you, for ages, but you still let me borrow pens, or let me talk to you, or anything. You’re the nicest person in our entire school no matter how awful everyone is. High school sucks and it’s like you just forget about that sometimes, you’re too busy like, caring about people. So no. You don’t know what it’s like to struggle with being nice. It’s really fucking hard for some of us okay.”

Peter spluttered for a moment. Unsure just what part of Flash’s little speech to actually address. Eventually he settled on just throwing his arms out wide, gesturing to himself as a whole. 

“Are you kidding me?! I’m a mess. Like, a whole fucking mess. I help people because I should. Because I have the power to make their lives better and therefore I have the responsibility. Just because I do it though does not mean it is  _ easy _ . What would be easy would be for me to just say no. To do nothing. To sit back and let everything go to shit. Or, actually, it would be easy to fight back. I can’t even tell you how often I just want to  _ give in _ to that little voice that tells me it’d be alright if I retaliate  _ just this once. _ But I don’t. So don’t tell me I don’t know that being nice is fucking difficult Flash. It’s a choice. I’ve made mine and you’ve gotta make yours. Try to do it without complaining will you? The rest of us seem to have managed.”

The two boys stood opposite one another. Peter’s heavy breathing the only sound between them as he tried to recover after almost shouting right at Flash’s face. His volume had risen with every other word, like he’d had all these thoughts swirling around inside his head for years. Like he’d been fighting this particular battle for so long he’d just pushed it aside, forgotten how much he cared. Like what Flash had said was the final straw and finally he had an excuse to let it all out. His rage. His anger. His pain. 

Well. Flash wasn’t entirely sure where to go from there. What did you say to a guy that basically just admitted he totally had wanted to punch you in the face because you’ve been a dick to him forever? He wasn’t sure but standing there awkwardly in silence probably wasn’t helping. 

Peter seemed to make the decision for him.

“You know what? I’ll just go home. I’ll send you my part of the work.”

Before Flash could even say anything Peter was gone. 

Well that could have gone better.

-

Flash was pretty certain most people didn’t decide to lie in bed for two hours whining about how their classmate ran away and didn’t want to be friends with them. But there he was. 

“He just left. What the hell. It’s his loss. Yeah. I could be such a good friend. He doesn’t fucking deserve me.” Flash pouted at the ceiling. 

“Fine. I’ll stop being so fucking nice. I’ll just ignore him. Then he’ll see what he’d missing.”

Somewhere deep in the back of his mind he was aware that he was acting like a love sick ex but whatever, his reactions were totally valid because he put way too much effort over the last few weeks to just be  _ ignored _ like that. Peter was just ungrateful. He didn’t even want to be his friend. There was no point. They would just never have to interact again and all their problems would be solved. Perfect. Flash wouldn’t talk to him, he wouldn’t talk to Flash and there would be no need for them to even make eye contact ever again. After all it’s not like he’d ever have to speak to Spider-Man so as long as he avoided Peter in class it would all work out. 


	4. Chapter 4

Stupid Flash. Stupid Peter for trying to be his friend. Stupid universe. 

Peter pouted while he sunk ever lower onto his desk. Calculus was already enough of a pain but now he also had to sit there and actually listen to Flash blurting out all the wrong answers every single time the teacher asked a question to the class as a whole. Ugh. 

Ned spared him a glance when he let out a small sound of misery but seeing as Peter had been acting like that for days now, he just comfortingly patted Peter’s shoulder and got back to work. It wasn’t exactly surprising that Ned was just letting Peter wallow in self pity, after all there wasn’t much to do when he got that way. 

Well, there wasn’t much for Ned to do when he was like that, MJ on the other hand didn’t seem to have gotten the memo of “leave Peter alone when he’s pouting”. 

“Alright Parker,” her voice snapped in time with her lunch tray slamming on to the cafeteria table at lunch. “Out with it.”

Sluggishly he lifted his gaze to meet hers.  _ Wow _ , he thought to himself,  _ she better not become evil because she looks already looks happy to kill me and I don’t think I could emotionally handle fighting her as Spider-Man.  _ She glared back at him, entirely oblivious to the way his thoughts had already managed to get entirely sidetracked. 

“Out with what?”

“It.” She gestured at his slumped over form, “whatever  _ it _ is that’s made you all depressing. That’s my role in this little trio.” He huffed in amusement only to quiet down the moment he saw her deadly serious expression. “I’m not playing around here Parker. Since you’ve gotten like this Ned here has had to overcompensate for your misery which means he has tried to start four separate conversations with me about Star Wars and I can’t handle another day of this. So out with it, what’s wrong?”

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Peter knew this was MJ’s attempt to show she genuinely cared about him. It was a little aggressive, a little snappy, but in a weird way it was… nice. Sweet almost. Not that he would ever tell her that because he valued keeping all of his limbs intact thank you very much. 

“It’s nothin’,” he mumbled, trying to distract her by pushing her tray closer to her. To be honest he really wasn’t that surprised when his master plan didn’t work out and she continued to glare at him until he kept talking. “Seriously, you’re going to think I’m being dumb.”

“Yeah, and?”

“Ugh. Fine. The truth is, well, see-” Peter fumbled to find the right way to word his problems that wouldn’t make him sound like a lunatic. It was surprisingly difficult. “Well Flash is acting weird.”

“Flash?”

“Yeah.”

“Is acting weird?”

“Yup.”

“And this bothers you?”

“Uhuh.”

“Interesting.” 

Peter peered at her, trying to gauge what her reaction meant but, as per usual, her face was an expressionless mask. The silence between them stretched, only to be interrupted every so often by the sound of Ned resolutely chewing his way through lunch, only daring to glance at their little showdown from the corner of his eye. MJ rolled her eyes which meant either she was sick of him, she thought he was adorably misguided, or he was the biggest idiot in the world. Maybe it meant all three. 

“Peter you are the biggest idiot in the world.” Ah, okay. So that’s the one she was going with today. “You’re not sad because Flash is ‘acting weird’ you’re sad because he’s ignoring you.”

“No I’m not.”

“Don’t argue with me. You are. You’re sad because you were genuinely starting to enjoy his company and now you’re mad that you ruined a potential friendship because you’re a weirdo who actually enjoys being friends with people. It upsets you that you somehow managed to let this opportunity slip away from you especially since befriending Flash would, to your mind, be something of an achievement which you would no doubt brag about endlessly if you were successful.”

She ended her speech with a flourish of her wrist and a bite of an apple; clearly she was done talking and now it was up to Peter to get over the fact she has read him like a book, and instead focus on what she was actually saying.

Annoyingly enough, she was right. Of course she was bloody right. Peter chomped angrily on his lunch, content to sit in silence and seethe until the class bell rang while he figured out what to do with his newfound understanding of why he was so miserable. The only protest he really put up was a murmured complaint that “you don’t know  _ I _ was the one to mess it up” at which point MJ smirked in that MJ way where everyone just kind of knew that she was right and she knew it too. Damn it. 

  
  


-

  
  


Over the next two weeks Peter gradually stopped sulking. Perhaps it was because it finally stopped annoying him so much when Flash would walk past in the halls without giving him a second glance, like he wasn’t even worth that much attention, or maybe it was because both MJ and Ned had taken it upon themselves to distract him from his sour thoughts. Regardless, he was in a far better mood than he’d been after the whole debacle with Flash. 

Well, he would be if Flash didn’t keep running in to him. Not even in a figurative sense, Flash  _ literally _ ran into him. At first it had just been in gym, Flash might’ve just misstepped and slammed into Peter. Or, he was being a pain in the ass on purpose because he no longer looked like he was pouting over him and Flash couldn’t deal without the attention. Then it’d been in the halls and, sure,  _ maybe _ Flash really was just late for class and rounded the corner a little too quickly. Except that Peter knew for sure that his next class was physics on the other side of the building, and he knew this because he had the exact same class. 

So when Peter felt a body slam into him on the street and turned to find Flash staring right back at him, Peter was a little pissed to say the least. In fact, he’d just opened his mouth with a snarky one liner already on his tongue when he noticed a few distinct problems. Number one: it was night time and the pair of them were well away from the school which meant Flash had no reasonable excuses for slamming right into him. Number two: Peter wasn’t currently Peter Parker. He was in fact quite busy being Spider-Man at that very moment. Number three: Flash’s eyes were filled to the brim with terror. 

Damn it. 

With nothing but a tingling feeling in the back of his neck to warn him, Peter flung out his arms, catching Flash by the shoulder and swiveling on the spot so the pair of them were thrown to the side. Just in time to miss the bullets by a hair's breadth. 

Immediately Peter felt his mind focus in on the threat, his concentration narrowing entirely upon the three figures clad in black, each with a gun trained on them. Working on mere instinct Peter felt his arm wrap around Flash’s waist so he could haul him the hell out of the way of the next round of bullets, entirely ignoring Flash’s gasp of surprise and muffled protests. Meanwhile his other hand was occupied with aiming a web at their attackers, hoping it was still on the web grenade setting. A tiny cheer escaped him when he saw that he’d managed to incapacitate one of the criminals. But that still left two more hot on their tail. One of them, a woman with her curled hair tied back in a surprisingly intricate knot shot again, right through the web Peter had just made to pull himself, and Flash, up a nearby building. His limbs flailed through the air for a second, at a loss without the web until he managed to shoot another at the last second, his feet grazing the pavement below. 

Flash had been letting out an impressively loud and irritating scream as his body was yo-yoed back and forth in Peter’s arms while he tried to get them to higher ground. 

“Man, do you mind keeping it down? I’m trying to save your life here. If you prefer though I can just drop you and let them figure out their problems on their own.” Peter muttered through gritted teeth. To his great surprise Flash immediately shut up. Not another sound was heard from the boy as Peter managed to dodge and evade a hail of bullets. 

His feet had only just touched the roof before Flash was squirming in place trying to stand on his own. Peter huffed indignantly and set him down to watch the way a flustered Flash attempted to regain his dignity. 

“So what’d a hotshot like you do to deserve their attention?” Peter couldn’t help but ask. At Flash’s angry glare he held his hands up in surrender, wondering what Spider-Man had done to piss him off so much. He also wondered why Flash didn’t appreciate his hotshot pun, because they were getting shot at. It was funny damn it. 

“Obviously they found out my father is rich and wanted to use me as bait or ransom or whatever.”

“Yeah, obviously.” Peter echoed absentmindedly, not paying attention to why Flash might be thinking Spider-Man would know about his personal life because he was far more focused on looking down over the edge of the building to see the three criminals had reunited and were climbing up the building’s facade on their own. “Right. We’ve got to get going.” He said, turning back to Flash with false cheer. Hopefully if Spider-Man looked like he had control of the situation Flash would shut up and they could go their separate ways sooner rather than later.

“Oh that’s a brilliant plan.” Flash’s sarcasm immediately set Peter’s whole body on edge, anger swelling up inside. How did Flash of all people have the audacity to be a dick to Spider-Man when he was trying to save his life? “One small problem though; there’s nowhere to go.”

Thanking the stars that he wore a mask, Peter took a second to stick his tongue out at Flash who was sneering right back at him. “Of course there’s places to go.” Peter snarked back, “I’ve just gotta throw you off the roof first.”

He didn’t mean to say it like that. Whoops. Obviously Peter just meant that because the building they were on was a little isolated from other tall offices that surrounded them, that he’d have to throw Flash first so he could get enough distance for a proper swing and the right momentum that’d take him to across the square below, he’d catch Flash on his way there. 

Okay… so maybe it wasn’t a super obvious plan to anyone except him. At least, it definitely wasn’t to Flash who’s face drained of colour in an instant. His eyes widened in horror even as he took a few shuffled, uncertain steps back. 

If it weren’t for his enhanced hearing he would be pretty sure he’d have missed the way Flash muttered “This is it” to himself over and over, stepping ever closer to the edge. Peter felt panic steep into his blood. The assailants were already close to the roof, Flash was about to walk his own damn self off the building and Peter didn’t know what to do. 

“Flash, Flash I need you to calm down. You’re freaking out and trust me, I get it,” with his hands splayed forward in a placating gesture Peter began to edge forward, slowly closing the distance between him and Flash but the other boy just kept on moving back, “It’s crazy having people come after you but I need you to trust me. I need to get you off the roof and you’re just going to have to trust that I’ll catch you. And I will. I promise.”

Flash shook his head, nothing but distrust and fear in his eyes as he watched Spider-Man approach. “How dumb do you think I am? This is it isn’t it? You’re going to kill me. After everything I’ve done that’s what you’re going to do. And you’ll  _ still _ somehow get to be the hero of the story.”

“I- Wait-. You think- What?” His confusion was enough to make Peter actually still for a minute. His movement stopping as he tried to puzzle through whatever the hell Flash had just said. “You think I’m going to kill you? Who do you think I am?”

The only response he got from Flash was a tiny, manic laugh and another step backwards. By then his designer sneakers were flush against the edge of the roof, another step and he’d be falling back into the air. The number one problem was that Peter was pretty sure he didn’t know how close he was to plummeting to his death. The number two problem was that he could hear the criminals closing in, they were almost on the top floor and soon enough they’d be up there with him at which point he’d lose his chance to swing out to safety. 

He needed an idea. He needed a plan. He needed some way to make Flash suddenly, against all odds trust him.

Ah shit. He had an idea. And he had a plan. And he was very much about to regret doing this.

With fingers shaking only slightly, Peter reached up and tugged his mask back. Cold wind whipped against his newly exposed skin as he stared earnestly at Flash, waiting for the moment when recognition kicked in. 

Instead, Flash just stared right back at him, taken aback only by the fact Peter had revealed himself not because, y’know, he was  _ Peter Parker and Spider-Man. _

“Flash,” he said quickly even as he heard the scrape of fingers catching on the tiled roof behind him, “See? It’s me, you can trust me. I’ll help you. But we need to hurry the fuck up.”

Instead of leaping gratefully into Peter’s arms like any sane person would Flash simply looked offended. “No shit Parker. Why do you think I know you’re trying to kill me?!”

“Okay,” Peter sighed, tugging the mask back in place, “We don’t have time to unpack all that, but I promise you I am not so much of an asshole that I’d willingly let you die,” Flash seemed to calm down a fraction, even taking half a hesitant step forward away from the ledge. Behind them the three criminals had all gotten up and were attempting to sneak up on Spidey while his back was turned. “I am however,” he continued as he stepped up to Flash’s side, “Enough of an asshole to do this.”

Flash was distracted for just long enough for Peter to sidle up close to him, clasp him around the waist, and chuck him into the air.

If Peter just so happened to take a concerning amount of vindictive pleasure from the resulting scream Flash let out, well that was his business and not something he was willing to admit to any time soon. Instead he turned on the spot, shot three more web grenades in rapid succession before the criminals could realise he had found them out. Then, taking a running start, he leapt. 

Wind rushed past his body as he soared through the air. When he’d just reached the peak of his jump his arms splayed out from his body, one shooting a web down to connect to the still falling body of Flash while the other reached out to a close by office building. All at once he felt himself being nearly torn in two as weight pulled from both ends, Flash was surprisingly heavy for such a small guy but nonetheless Peter managed to direct his swing so that Flash came flying back up. Peter landed feet first on the roof of the new building with just enough time to pluck Flash out of the air before he went plummeting back down. 

The two boys stood there for another minute, just catching their breath. One recovering from a hell of a lot of physical exertion in a small amount of time while the other tried to accept that he actually wasn’t dead despite what the last few minutes would suggest. Flash was still busy trying to calm his heart which presumably felt like it was going to explode out his hcest if his face was anything to go off, but Peter had experience with these kind of situations and he knew just moving one building over wasn’t going to be enough so, with some regret, he found himself picking Flash up again. He had to command him to hold on for himself because Peter needed both arms as he jumped back off the roof and swung into the depths of the city. 

Soon enough Flash stopped yelling anytime they got remotely close to any kind of obstacle and learnt to trust Peter’s instincts. He wasn’t quite sure why Flash couldn’t have just trusted him from the start but it certainly was a relief to feel like he’d earned the relative quiet that came over the pair. Eventually though he figured they were far enough out of danger that he could land. And deal with the consequences of unmasking himself to his high school bully. Ah… that was not going to be fun. 

Once again as soon as Peter had stablised himself on the fire escape they’d landed on Flash was squirming away so he could stand on his own two feet. Some time must’ve passed while Peter got his breath back but it felt like only seconds later that he was standing back up, and looking at Flash who hadn’t stopped glaring at him warily.

“So,” he started, “I’m Spider-Man.”

Flash scoffed. “No shit.”

“You already knew?” He nodded and rolled his eyes.  _ Ah, so you’re still being a little shit I see _ . “How long?”

“I dunno,” Flash scuffed the toe of his shoes against the railing.He turned from Peter to lean over and stare out into the street below. Peter couldn’t help but mirror the movement, not wanting to have to look him in the eye. “Couple of months? Y’know you really shouldn’t take off your mask at school you dumbass _. _ ” He said accusingly.

Peter grinned at that, shrugging because it’s not like Flash was wrong. “You might have a point there.” Quiet settled over them as they watched the city lights twinkle below, out as far as the eye could see. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Another scoff of disbelief came from Flash, “Are you kidding? What was I meant to say? ‘Hey Peter, I know I’ve harassed you literally every day since you came to this school but I just figured out you have crazy spider powers and you’ve saved my life before and now I’m reevaluating my whole personality because turns out I’m just an asshole and an awful person and I’ve been taking it out on you for years but it turns out you have enough strength to murder me at like, any point, so now I’m double indebted to you.’ Is that what you want?” Flash heaved in a deep breath after that, giving Peter just enough time to peel back the mask and stare at him in confusion.

“Seriously? You thought I was actually going to  _ murder  _ you?” Flash shrugged non committedly, “Wow. Wait, that’s why you started being nice? You thought I was going to just deck you one day in the halls?” A chuckle bubbled up in his chest until Peter was crouched over, crying tears of laughter while Flash looked on in growing horror. “You-, You thought. Aaha, you thought- I was, I-me? Gonna fight you? Flash,” He grinned, “Flash there is literally no way you could have beaten me. That’s not a fair fight. Also yeah, sure you were a pain in the ass but I regularly get shot at, so if you put things into perspective then your teasing was like, I dunno, it was like if I’d gotten stabbed and also a mosquito bit me. No one likes mosquitos but I kinda have bigger problems to worry about these days. Also getting stabbed hurts. Like a lot.”

Perhaps there was a better way to handle the situation but Peter was so entirely caught off guard by everything that had happened that night that really, he didn’t know what to think about the way Flash was pouting at him. Perhaps he just really didn’t appreciate being likened to a mosquito but over the last year of being Spider-Man he really had needed to learn to put things in perspective. And sure, somedays being Peter Parker was infinitely harder than being Spider-Man but he guessed it just wasn’t one of those days. Actually… it hadn’t been one of those days in a long time. Months even. 

With a sinking feeling Peter was pretty sure he would’ve been able to trace back the absence of those feelings to the day Flash learned his identity. Huh. Maybe he had actually been having a much bigger influence than Peter realised. 

Glancing at him from the corner of his eye Peter watched Flash seem to sink into himself. “Y’know, I really thought you’d hate me. I thought you must’ve wanted to throw me out the window every time I dared speak to you. Turns out I’m not even important enough for that.”

Peter couldn’t help roll his eyes a little a that, sure Flash had grown up in the last few months but he still somehow managed to make his inability to make Peter hate him the priority. “Dude, okay so I might be wrong, a little bit at least. You were an ass to me. For years. Long before I got these powers and, yeah, I really did  _ not _ like you for a long time. Most of the time, actually. But still, I was never going to threaten you with physical violence. Sheesh. That’s not who I am. And to be honest, you being such a prick was almost convenient for me this last year because who would suspect Puny Peter Parker to be Spider-Man? You gave me the perfect cover.”

Flash couldn’t help tearing his gaze away from the street to stare at Peter, but sure enough he was still standing there, arms crossed lightly with a small smile upon his face looking as casual but sincere as he could manage. “Seriously?”

“Uhuh.”

“ _ That’s _ why you kept acting like a dork after you got the powers?”

“Yeah man, do you have any idea how suspicious it’d be if I just showed up one day with a six pack and a sudden excess of confidence?”

“Eh, good point.”

“Yeah, I know right.”

Flash mirrored his stance, arms crossed casually as they gazed at each other, both seemingly satisfied with how their conversation had ended. Peter wasn’t quite sure how it had happened but he was pretty sure he had just earned Flash’s respect back. And in all honestly he’d done the same for Peter, now he had no doubt that Flash really had sincerely been trying to change over the last few months. The boys may not be great friends but Peter left that fire escape with a distinct sense that they had just found a brand new, totally even playing field. No longer were they enemies. No longer would he be facing needless teasing in the halls, nor would he be on the receiving end on some pretty selfishly motivated compliments. When next he and Flash saw each other it would be as equals, and nothing less. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol a month later but I finally finished this, here's an extra long ending to make up for it  
> thanks for reading and feel free to come say hi over at https://mauverawrites.tumblr.com/


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